Shailene Woodley, Forest Elf, Doesn't Care Which Gender She Dates

Shailene Woodley, Forest Elf, Doesn't Care Which Gender She Dates

A big thank you to Jennifer Lawrence is in order. Apparently she's the reason Shailene Woodley's on her way to silver-screen domination. In The Hollywood Reporter's March 14 issue, Woodley explains how a few e-mail exchanges convinced her to take the role of Tris in Divergent, and subsequently open herself up to YA franchise stardom.

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"You must do it," Lawrence said in those messages. "You will not regret it for a second. Yes, there are some hard things, but there are so many beautiful things that will come from an opportunity like this." If anything, Woodley's profile in THR confirms that. It paints quite the un-Hollywood portrait of the promising star. Among the traits covered are her penchant for foraging for berries and her fluid sexuality — two things that contribute to a quirky persona not far from the one J Lawr's been cultivating. "I fall in love with human beings based on who they are, not based on what they do or what sex they are," Woodley told THR's Tatiana Siegel about her relationship with her two best friends.

The profile explores her early career but also sheds light on her mature understanding that acting is her job. "When I go on a red carpet, I'm Shailene," she explains. "But, I'm also Shailene representing a movie. I'm there for my boss, for my employer, so part of that comes with wearing the uniform." While she's won her way right into our hearts, the profile proves she's way more than a starlet seeking limelight.

Photo: Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.

We can also thank Woodley's dad for her awesomeness. Here's how she says he talked her out of throwing herself a pity-party after losing out on a role: "'Shai, what are you doing? You have so much anger, and you're feeling so let down by the fact that you didn't book [this]. I want you to close your eyes right now and picture this Dakota girl, and I want you to send her so much love and so much light because one day you're going to book something that you really want, and you're not going to want all of the girls around you that you competed against to feel anger against you. You're going to want them to support you on your journey. And so it's your turn right now to support Dakota on her journey.' And so I did that," she says. With a power player like Jennifer Lawrence already in her corner, we're sure Shailene's journey is off to a great start. (The Hollywood Reporter)